Rain and Thunder
by Earth Star
Summary: Allura had seen many kinds of bizarre weather on various planets and could handle them without blinking. A thunderstorm though? That was just beyond strange.


Allura could handle many things. She could handle the exploding tree on Awen, one just required the proper armour for it. She could handle the freezing cold on Gorganos with enough layers under her clothes. She could even handle the flesh eating flowers on Nintoku, all you needed there was a sharp knife and the sense to keep your distance.

The thunder storms on Ariana, however, that was going on her list of things she disliked right next to slime and finding tangles in her hair.

Allura sighed to herself as she stared out the window of the Nintoku palace and watched the downpour of water outside. She had thought the balcony near the royal garden would be quieter since it was well sheltered from the storm, but the noise was as loud as ever.

"I am getting more annoyed by this planet with each passing tic," Allura grumbled and jumped the thunder struck again. "I can't see how the others can enjoy this 'rain' so much."

Nintoku was a planet with a thick forest, where they had water falling from the clouds almost on a daily basis. The paladins reactions to seeing the constant rain surprised and perplexed Allura. They were delighted by it, especially Lance. Allura couldn't understand why until Shiro explained rain was a common type of weather back on their planet.

Alright, that she could understand. She and Coran had gotten rather misty eyed after seeing the fire rock storm when they had stopped on the planet Necho, despite Hunk's screaming. Allura would even admit the rain was rather charming in a way and listening to the raindrops hit the roof outside was strangely soothing.

But then the thunderstorm started during her meeting with the queen. They first time she had heard the ear piercing boom, Allura and Coran had jumped so high they had almost hit the ceiling. She and Coran had gotten into an instant battle stance when it had boomed again, only to be a bit embarrassed when the Nintoku queen laughed and explained it was only a thunderstorm. Allura had blushed madly as the queen laughed like she was humoring a small child and it only worsened when the queen explained their thunderstorms could last days at a time.

Thus, she was forced to spend the rest of the meeting resisting the urge to not yelp at the constant booming that would randomly occur. Afterwards, Allura had ventured off on her own hoping a little time alone would help calm her, but it proved fruitless. She was was able to hear the thunder nonstop.

Allura sighed as she massaged her forehead, only for the thunder to boom again and her body shook. She silently and angrily hugged herself. So much for soothing her nerves. If anything, she found being alone made it slightly worse.

"Maybe I should return to the castle like Coran suggested," she grumbled. "I'm going to be a nervous wreck at this rate."

"Allura?"

The princess turned and saw Keith poking his head in the door with a concerned frown. "You doing alright?"

Allura forced a smile as she folded her hands in front of her. "Um..yes, just marvelous. I was..admiring the garden."

Keith raised a skeptical eyebrow as he entered. "That's in the middle of a thunderstorm, with dark clouds?," he said and pointed as more rain drops slammed against the window. "And the rain so thick you can barely see anything?"

Allura gave a sheepish smile as she suddenly got flashbacks to that night when the two of them had snuck off the castle together to test if Zarkon had been tracking them. "Yes?"

Keith narrowed his eyes. "Allura, Coran mentioned you two were a bit..jittery with the thunder storm."

Allura sighed in annoyance. "He did?"

Keith nodded as he leaned against the wall. "He seemed worried, and so I thought I check on you."

Allura shook her head. "Well, I assure you I am perfectly fine."

Keith narrowed his eyes. "You're doing that face."

Allura blinked puzzled. "What face?"

"The 'I am not fine but I'm going to hide it' face," Keith replied sternly.

Allura shut her eyes. During the time Shiro had been missing and Keith had been forced to take over the Black Lion, the two of them had gotten to know each other a lot more. It had almost reached the point when Keith was able to read her mind with a glance, and Allura hadn't decided yet if that was a good thing or not.

Still, that had been such a long dreadful period for all the paladins, each of them clinging to the other for support. However, with the team looking to Keith and Allura for guidance, they both vowed to do what they could and be there for their team. Then, they found Shiro and even when Keith had gladly returned to his role of piloting the Red Lion, it hadn't changed the close bond they had forged.

Allura was tempted to deny the accusation, but before she could open her mouth, thunder struck again. She jumped and on instinct clung to Keith's arm. When the booming stopped, Allura glanced up to Keith and had her face instantly turned bright red as she let go of his arm.

"Alright," she grumbled as she folded her arms. "This thunder nonsense is a bit.."

"Scary?" Keith asked.

"Nerve rattling," Allura stated as she slumped against the wall next to him. "You can't honestly tell me you and the others aren't bothered by it as well?"

Keith rubbed his neck as he pressed his lips together. "Um...actually we're not."

Allura stared in utter dismay. "How?"

"They happen all the time on Earth," Keith replied with a shrug. "So, we're just use to it."

"Oh," Allura said as she blinked and then rubbed her eyes. "That's just lovely."

Allura was beginning to wonder just on kind of bizarre planet Earth was. The more the paladins described it, the more strange it always sounded.

Keith patted her shoulder as he offered a sympathetic frown. "I will admit thought…," he ran a hand through his hair. "I was scared of them when I was a little kid."

Allura forgot her fears as she felt her curiosity take hold. "You were?"

Keith gave a nod. "Use to hide under my bed until the storm was over."

Allura tried to picture a smaller version of Keith being that scared and her eyes softened. It was rather endearing. "How did you overcome it?"

Keith tilted his head back in thought. "Grew out of it I guess," he then gave a soft laugh. "Although, it was probably because my dad use to tell me that thunder was just giants having a bowling tournament."

Allura frowned in confusion. "Bowling?"

"An Earth sport," Keith continued and swung his arm like he was holding a ball. "You basically take a bowl and try to knock over all the pins that are set up. When you hit them all, it usually makes a loud booming sound."

"And your father," Allura said slowly in disbelief, "said that giants were playing this sport and that's what was causing thunder?" She was certain she had never heard such a ridiculous story in her entire life.

Keith nodded sincerely.

"And you actually believed it?" Allura replied. Keith was one of the most logical and rational of the paladins. She just had a hard time picturing him believing a story that sounded so silly.

Keith gave a pout and sighed. "Yes, and well, you have to understand my dad told me A LOT of stories."

Allura blinked curiously as she inched closer. "What do you mean?"

Keith gave a scowl. "He..got enjoyment from yanking my chain," he grumbled. "He had me convinced that if I didn't clean my room trolls would eat all my socks."

Allura gave a giggle. She didn't know what a troll was, but a younger Keith assuming this was true was rather adorable to picture.

"You have no idea how many traps I set," Keith explained with a growl.

Allura laughed at that. "Oh, dear."

"And he also told me that we had gremlins in the attic," Keith continued almost close to a rant. "I couldn't sleep for a week since I kept hearing movement from up there, only to find out later it was just a bat that was trying to get back outside."

Allura laughed even more. "That's..that's too precious."

The thunder struck again. Allura jumped again, but only slightly this round and she strangely felt more relaxed. She blinked surprised and then noticed Keith was smiling.

"Did..you tell me all of that just to cheer me up?" Allura asked.

Keith shrugged. "I figured it couldn't hurt," he replied. "Besides, worst case you just associate the thunder with that silly story and just helps you calm down in the future."

Allura smiled softly as she leaned against his shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered. "It does help."

Keith gave a smile back as they stared out the window together, both quietly watching the raindrops fall. Maybe there were good things about the rain afterwall.


End file.
